Information needs of rural health care practitioners in Hawaii.

Rural health care workers need a wide range of specialized information but have difficulties locating and accessing information resources. The information needs of Hawaii's rural health care practitioners and their methods of accessing information were studied through interviews and mailed questionnaires. The following barriers to information access were identified: lack of funds, inadequate hardware, infrastructure problems, and insufficient knowledge about information sources and how to use them. Although many (85%) reported having computers, only a minority (30%) have modems, and even fewer use online resources or the free electronic databases at public and university libraries. Most reported that journal articles were the information source that best met their needs and that personal files or a colleague's collection were the most common places for accessing needed materials. Recommendations for solving some of the information problems include development of a State of Hawaii rural health information clearinghouse; better identification, training, and use of available services; and, most importantly, the establishment of rural health care information agents (modeled on agriculture extension agents) on each major island.

Historical perspectives of ankle arthroscopy.

Ankle arthroscopy is a relatively recent specialty. This is because technology lacked the expertise to develop instrumentation small enough to be used effectively within a restricted joint space. This caused primary attention to be focused upon the larger knee joint, but both the knee and ankle had their common arthroscopic origin. This includes simple specula and crude cystoscopes and endoscopes. The lighting ranged from mere reflected sunlight, to wax candles, to crude burning filaments, to simple gas and electric lamps. Early workers included prism and lens grinders, optical physicists, and a host of other scientific specialists. This presentation includes many of the important pioneers and their contributions, as well as a chronicle of arthroscopy's most primitive roots and its transcendency into an accurate surgical instrument.